


Paper Bag Messages

by Talianna_ (Talianna)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [4]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Hartwin, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pining, Pining Harry, Same Age Hartwin, Tumblr Prompt, more subtly pining Eggsy, oblivious idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 21:37:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6676309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talianna/pseuds/Talianna_
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumbr prompt: "100 Ways to Say 'I Love You'" - <strong>16. "It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway."</strong> prompted by <em>fromthecastlesintheair </em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Paper Bag Messages

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thelostbutterfly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelostbutterfly/gifts).



 

 

**16. “It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”**

 

Eggsy nodded tiredly, shuffling inside once Harry had stepped to the side to let him in. He dragged his feet over the floor and Harry refrained from scolding him like he usually did, instead closing the door and following Eggsy to the kitchenette.

 

“What would you like to drink? Tea? Something stronger?” Harry inquired, turning on the light which Eggsy failed to do and finding him already sitting at the table for two, squinting at the sudden brightness and Harry noticed the black circles under his eyes immediately. “Rough day?”

 

“More like a rough entire fucking week.” Eggsy groaned, letting his head fall on the arms he had crossed on top of the table in defeat.

 

Harry’s lips turned into a sympathetic but affectionate smile and he suppressed the urge to brush his fingers through Eggsy’s hair to soothe him. Instead, he opened the fridge and fished out a bottle of Ale for Eggsy, he himself settling for a Guinness. He opened both and set Eggsy’s on the table in front of him, settling down on the chair at the other side of the table. “Who do I need to kill?” He asked off-handedly, smirking as he heard Eggsy’s amused huff.

 

“Valentine.” Eggsy hissed maliciously but in his tired state it came out adorably petulant, like a puppy barking, and Harry just smiled, shaking his head as he once again realised how utterly infatuated he was.

 

Eggsy raised his head, his fingers wrapping around his bottle of Ale. Eggsy always wondered why Harry was well stocked with Ale anytime he came round; after all they have held discussions more heated than any that have ever taken place in any of his classes on which was the better beverage and Harry always insisted that he couldn’t care less for Ale. And yet he still added it to his grocery list – yes, he had fucking hand-written grocery lists, that old man. Eggsy sighed and brought the bottle to his lips, taking a sip of the drink, enjoying the almost sweet taste. “On second thought, kill the entire fucking class, they’re giving me headaches like I’ve been shot in the head or somethin’.”

 

 Harry chuckled lightly. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. A record as a mass murderer wouldn’t look too good on my resume, I presume.” He quipped, gulping down almost half of his Guinness at once, glad to have an excuse to look away from Eggsy who even in this exhausted state looked absolutely dashing.

 

“For me?” Eggsy pouted when Harry set his bottle down and looked back at him, his wide green eyes fatal for Harry’s heart which just kept falling and falling. “They’re all dumb bigots anyways, people would thank you for getting rid of ‘em.”

 

 Harry gave him a sympathetic smile, having heard nothing but the worst about Professor Valentine’s class. “I don’t really think anyone would thank me for exterminating dozens of students.”

 

“I would.”

 

Harry exhaled through his nose in amusement while he took another gulp of his Guinness, and Eggsy’s eyes lingered on his lips when he ran his tongue over them. Not that Harry noticed, because Eggsy was quick to avert his gaze and instead direct it to his own bottle, picking at the label, peeling it off at one corner and then pressing it back to the bottle, even though it wouldn’t quite stick to it then.

 

They spent some more time talking about their classes and assignments, Eggsy admitting that this semester was the hardest yet, knowing that come next semester, he would sit in the same spot and repeat his words but with different names.  

 

After his fifth pint Harry deemed it was time to go to bed – it was closing in on 4am as it was – but Eggsy was too tired to move and all he wanted was to sleep. Harry insisted that he should go to an actual bed or he would be absolutely unbearable the next morning from sleeping in such a stiff position. Eggsy finally conceded and stood from the chair, slightly swaying on his feet as he excited the kitchenette. Harry watched him go with an affectionate headshake and started to put away their empty bottles. He was actually surprised that Eggsy, who was usually rather loud and exorbitant, left his dorm room without a single sound of the door falling shut, but maybe Eggsy’s exhaustion mixed with the alcohol made him reach a new state of inebriation where he was actually a quiet and reserved person.

 

Harry decided not to dwell on it too long, his own tiredness catching up with him now that he didn’t have anything pretty to stare at and funny to listen to, so he hurried up with the cleaning and exited the kitchenette, turning off the light.

 

After living here for the last couple of months, he knew his way around without the lights on, so he scuffed across the room, unable to raise his feet properly for the life of him and he made a mental note of not scolding Eggsy too often about it.

 

Once he reached the bed, he grabbed for the blanket and raised it, a startled yelp – which he would forever deny – escaping him when it was tugged back down. Harry reached over to his bedside table and flicked the switch of his lamp on, the warm light colouring the head lying on his pillow almost golden as Eggsy drew the blanket right under his nose.

 

 “Eggsy-“

 

“’s an actual bed, innit?” Eggsy mumbled, wiggling a bit to the side, making room for Harry, his eyes still closed. “If you’s gonna stay, don’t hog the blanket, yeah?” Eggsy murmured sleepily into the pillow as he raised the blanket for Harry to slip in. Eggsy had taken off his shirt, which was as much as Harry could see, and he was seriously worried for his racing heart as he fought with himself.

 

Harry had been falling for Eggsy the very second he saw him run across the campus in his winged shoes, the ridiculous golden jacket and his white cap, and his heart might have just skipped a beat when he came running towards him, a cheeky smile on his face as he grabbed the paper bag right out of Harry’s grip with a sleight of hand that Harry hadn’t ever witnessed before and when he called after him, Eggsy just turned around while he kept on running, yelling out a chopsy “Thanks for the breakfast, love!” before he dashed away and out of sight.

 

Harry had little hope that he would ever see his dashing – pardon the pun – pickpocket ever again, but it turned out that he didn’t have to look far, for as he woke up early the next day – second day of classes – and stepped out of his room to go for a run, his cheeky thief came out of the door on the other side of the hall, wearing only a pair of sweats as he carried his toiletries and a towel in his arms. Harry had been actually struck speechless for a moment, as Eggsy stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights, but he recovered before Harry did, and it gave him the perfect headstart to dash down the hall to where the communal showers were located. Harry wanted to call after him again, but mindful of the other people in the building he refrained, instead watching the other boy run once again and determined to find him after his own morning run.

 

When he came back from his run, he went to take a shower himself, returning to his room with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair still dripping. It was still rather early so he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t stumble upon any other students on his way back. Just as he was about to change into some clothes, though, there was a knock on his door.

He wasn’t exactly surprised.

It was the first week of the new semester and new people always seemed to mess up the dorm numbers – he was used to people coming round because they thought this was the dorm room assigned to them. Usually, he would have bothered with at least a shirt for decency’s sake, but he was actually rather tired from the run and he didn’t really feel the need to pull on a shirt if he was just going to send away some student.

So when he opened the door to a brown paper bag being pushed into his face, he was startled to say the least.

When the person – Eggsy as he learned later on – lowered the bag until it didn’t hide his face anymore, an “I, erm, I’m sor-“ leaving his mouth before he stopped himself mid-sentence, Harry watched his bright green eyes widen as they wandered from his face down his torso. And yes, Harry had the nerve to smirk as he watched a blush spread across his cheeks just before Eggsy pushed the bag decidedly into Harry’s chest, muttering a hasty “sorry for yesterday” before he turned around on his heel. He positively ran across the hall into his own room, throwing the door shut behind him and Harry stood in his doorway in stunned silence, the smirk widening as he heard the unmistakable sound of Eggsy’s back hitting the door as he leaned against it, and then two, three more muffled sounds as he banged his head against it – at least that’s what Harry presumed.

 

When he finally went back inside, he pulled on his clothes and sat down to eat, a strange warm feeling spreading in his chest as he found the same kind of sandwich in the bag Eggsy gave him as he had stolen the day before, and when he bit into it, Harry noticed a message scribbled on the paper – “sorry for nicking your breakfast yesterday” and in smaller lettering “was delicious though :P”.

 

And if you asked him, he would always say that he wasn’t one to be sentimental or romantic, but if you looked through the box under his bed – because despite his age he acted like he was from a different time and kept a box with trinkets under his bed – you would find the paper bag still folded neatly inside.

 

So yes, Harry had been falling for Eggsy for quite some time now, but he knew about Eggsy’s popularity – with blokes _and_ birds, as he would say – and he didn’t dare to put their friendship on the line just for a quick fling. So he held back, allowing himself a touch here, a teasing remark there, enjoying the time he spent with Eggsy to the fullest and never asking for more than Eggsy was willing to give. He pined his days away, his heart clenching when he saw Eggsy with someone else or saw him return come morning when he went for his run, with mussed up hair and positively glowing. Harry felt his heart thud heavily in his chest but he just kept on smiling and kept pretending that he didn’t read anything into Eggsy’s suggestive smiles and his winks, into the way Eggsy would always come back to Harry’s dorm room and spend his evenings with Harry and bring him breakfast in the mornings. And Harry would deny the nights he spent sleepless while he wondered what Eggsy was doing – _whom_ Eggsy was doing. And Harry would deny the way his heart broke a little every time he watched Eggsy run down the hall afterwards, straight into the arms of his latest conquest.

 

And when he looked into the open arms of his dashing pickpocket, he once again realised that the day he first saw Eggsy, he didn’t only steal his breakfast. Unfortunately, Eggsy couldn’t just bring him another heart in a paper bag with a message scribbled on it and a hasty “sorry I stole your heart” thrown his way.

 

But when Harry sank into the bed at last and looked at Eggsy in the dim light as he wrapped the blanket around the both of them, he didn’t really care that Eggsy had a hold over his stupid heart and squeezed and twisted it as he liked, for there was no sweeter torture than the one at his hands.

 

After a few seconds, Harry relaxed next to Eggsy, bending his arm under his head as he laid on his side facing Eggsy and Eggsy hummed, sliding closer to him with his fingers lightly tapping against Harry’s biceps absentmindedly, eyes closed and mouth almost pouting.

“Sorry for comin’ round so late, Harry.” Eggsy murmured and his breath puffed against Harry’s clavicle and Harry wondered how his racing heart did not wake him. Instead, Harry watched Eggsy fall asleep, his lashes long against his cheeks and Harry just couldn’t help himself.

 

 If this was the last time he had Eggsy in his arms, he would enjoy it to the fullest, just as every moment he spent with him. So when he felt Eggsy bury his face into his chest, Harry raised a hand to his hair, running his fingers through the short strands and pressing the lightest of kisses to the crown of his head as he whispered into the silent room.

**“It’s okay, Eggsy. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”**


End file.
